William Malet (Magna Carta baron)

Arms of William Malet, Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry (circa 1200-1215): Azure, three escallops or

William Malet (fl. born before 1175–1215), feudal baron of Curry Mallet in Somerset, was one of the guarantors of Magna Carta. He served as Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset in 1209. The precise nature of his relationship to an earlier William Malet is unknown.

Landholdings

Amongst the manors comprising his feudal barony were his caput of Curry Mallet, where stood his castle, and Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

Marriages and progeny

He married twice but left no male progeny, only three daughters and co-heiresses, who divided their father's estate.^[1]

By his first wife, whose name is unknown, Malet had a daughter.

• Mabel Malet, married firstly Nicholas Avenel and secondly, before November 1223, Hugh de Vivonia (d.1249) (alias de Forz) of Chewton, Somerset.

By his second wife, Alice Basset, who was a daughter of Thomas Basset, Sheriff of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, William Malet had a daughter:^[2]

• Bertha Malet (d.pre-1221), who unmarried.
• Hawise Malet, who at some time before 23 March 1217 married Hugh I Poyntz (d.1220). She married secondly Robert de Mucegros (d.1254) of Brewham, Somerset.

References

1. ↑ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, pp.38-9, Curry Malet
2. ↑ Dillon, C. R. (2002) Royals and Nobles: .. iUniverse (via Google)

• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines 189-1, 234A-29
• Hollister, C. Warren (1973). "Henry I and Robert Malet". Viator. 4: 115–32. 
• Hurt, Cyril. "William Malet and His Family". Anglo-Norman Studies XIX. 
• Lewis, C. P. (1989). "The King and Eye: A Study in Anglo-Norman Politics". English Historical Review. 104 (CCCCXII): 569–87. doi:10.1093/ehr/CIV.CCCCXII.569.